The 44 Gujarat Congress legislators, who were staying at a resort in Bengaluru for over a week now, returned to Ahmedabad on Monday morning. Reportedly, the MLAs landed in an Indigo flight at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport amid tight security at 4.45 am.
Deputy Commissioner of police, Parikshita Gurjar said nine senior officers and 95 armed police personnel escorted the 44 Congress MLAs from the airport.
The Gujarat Congress had sent 44 legislators to Bengaluru on 29 July. The MLAs were accommodated in a resort in Bengaluru with an aim to fend off “poaching” attempts by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of the 8 August Rajya Sabha polls.
Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, is contesting the poll from Congress. “We have the numbers. The BJP doesn’t have the numbers. We will see to it that Patel wins the poll,” Congress spokesperson, Shaktisinh Gohil said.
He denied the claim that the MLAs would be flown to Delhi. Gohil alleged that it was BJP that was spreading “canards” that they would first be taken to meet Gandhi. He also alleged that BJP was spreading “false reports” that the MLAs would use ‘NOTA’ option in the polls.
Gohil said all the Congress MLAs were “united” and that they would vote for Patel. Recently, six of the 57 Congress MLAs in Gujarat have quit the party. Three of them joined the BJP on 28 July.
